The managing of physical plants has long presented difficulty to management personnel due to the need to make decisions involving the interrelationships of the numbers of the technically complex systems found in the physical plants of most industries and businesses. When considering alternatives for additions to or modifications of plant or process it is necessary for management to consider the effects such changes and their alternatives will have on existing systems and what new systems if any will be needed.
The establishing and maintaining of the body of technical graphics and the related data in an accessible and readily usuable form has been a cumbersome process due to the variety and diversity of the forms and the locations in which such graphics and data are kept. Heretofore the provision of such data and graphics in an easily transported and displayed form has been a difficult and a time consuming process.
The process of managing physical plant changes begins with reviews of options. This involves meetings and conferences involving one or two key personnel at a time. When the options available are well defined, conferences are held with somewhat larger groups of involved management personnel. The last step is the presentation of a proposed course of action to top management. It is highly desirable that the same or similar data and technical graphics be used throughout the decision making process and that the data and graphics be in a form which is readily assimilated and used by management.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a visual communications materials storage carrying and display means wherein technical graphics and data related thereto may be readily stored, transported and displayed in a manner that is compatible with the needs of the various steps of the physical plant management process.
It is further an object of this invention to provide the visual display means as described above wherein technical graphics may be provided on a transparent substrate and wherein the graphics may be displayed in overlaying indexed relationship one with the other.
It is further an object of this invention to provide as a part of the above described display means a data file storage and display means having contained therein data cards having indicia thereon which correspond to indicia on the technical graphics.
Is is further an object of this invention to provide the technical graphics materials and data in a form that is easy to maintain and update by clerical personnel.
Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptions and appended claims.